GURPS Blood Types
GURPS Blood Types is a classic GURPS reference book that lists the name of 78 different types of vampires from actual mythology and describes 23 vampires (or vampire like) beings from both mythology and fiction. TSR's Dragon #25 had an earlier list by R.P. Smith called "Varieties of Vampires" which has alternative names or details on some vampires. List of vampires from GURPS Blood Types Below is a quick summery of those 23 vampires (or vampire like beings) with their alternative equivalents in other countries listed. Names in italic appear only in "Varieties of Vampires" while bold italic appear in both. Those with a "*" are active in daylight: • Adze*: supernatural entity vampire from central Africa mainly Ghana and Togo. • Alien*: otherworldly vampire-may or may not be supernatural in nature. • Astral*: mortal vampire (sorcerer) found around the world. Some examples are Bebarlang of Southeast Asia and Philippines and the Chordewa of Bangal hill tribes. The Ekimmu from "Varieties of Vampires" seems to be a variant out of Assyria. • Baital*: supernatural entity vampire from India. • Ch'iang Shich: Undead vampire from China. Must be burned completely to be destroyed and can put their essence to an object requiring it to be destroyed. • Civateteo*: an undead vampire of Mesoamerica. Another variant of this from the same region is the Langsoir. • Gaki*: supernatural vampire-like being from Japan-may be either animated corpse or otherworldly spirit • Ghul*: Mortal vampire (flesh eater) from Arabian folktales. Hannya is the Japanese equivalent. • Gothic*: undead vampire made famous by Dracula and most of the movie variants inspired by the work. • Half-Vampire*: Mortal vampire that is usually a servant or slave to the Gothic type. The Dhampir of Gypsy mythology is the half-Vampire offspring of a human and vampire. • High-Tech*: Mortal vampire created via super science. • Human*: Mortal Vampire who feels the need to drink another's blood. Moroii (Romania) are human vampires with supernatural powers and destined to rise as undead when they die. • Incubus/Succubus*: supernatural vampire-like entity that drains life via sexual contact rather than blood • Lamia*: undead/supernatural entity from ancient Greece. (Word is 5th-century Vulgate's translation of Lilith) Other names are Empusae and Mormo. The Jaracacas is the Brazilian equivalent. • Lilitu*: supernatural entity vampire from ancient Mesopotamia. Given their name and nature they may have connection to Adam's first wife (Lilith). • Loogaroo*: Mortal vampire (soul pact) of Haiti. Obayifo (Africa) is from the Ashanti people and the Tlalicque is from pre-Columbian Mexico. Generally female. • Modern: Updated version of Gothic vampire type. • Nosferatu (word): Nonexistent wordNosferatu: Origin and Definitions that supposedly means undead in Romanian. In the context of GURPS Blood Types it is the vampire seen in the film Nosferatu. Called Nosferat in "Varieties of Vampires". • Penanggalen*: Female mortal vampire (soul pact) of Malay Peninsula. Male counterpart in Berma is the Kephn. Can only feed at night. Anananngel (Philippines) is another variant. • Strix: Mortal vampire (witch) of ancient Rome. Variants are the Aswang (Philippines) and Bruxsa (Portugal) • Usrel: Undead child vampire of Poland. If not properly destroyed can rise again as another type. Variants are the Callicantzaros (Greece) and Pontiannak (Malaysia) • Vampir: Traditional undead European vampire of the Slavic nations. Usually attacks in astral form and is more likely to be a peasant than noble. Ka (Egypt) is a rough equivalent to the Vampir's astral form. • Vyrolakos*: Traditional undead European vampire of the Balkan nations. Usually attacks physically and in the legend would often take human mates and have families. Tympanios is a precursor variant that was less insane and did not depend on blood. Vampires from "Varieties of Vampires" Since these mythical vampires were adpted to a D&D game the methods of defeating/destroying them is likely "off". The bold italic are only named with no descriptions in GURPS Blood Types: • Alp (Germany, Slavonia): Butterfly vampire that lives in a corpse. Suffocates victim. Destroyed by putting a lemon in the corpse's mouth. • Asanbosam (Africa): can only be killed by holy men. • Blautsauger (Bosnia-Herzagovinia/Germany): "blood sucker". Hairy with no skeleton that can only turn its victims into vampires by having them consume the soil from its grave. Destroyed by the body being burned or a stake through the heart. May be related to the story of Arnold Paole. • Burcolakas (Greece): swollen, tense, hard skin. Scream can deafen everyone in range and can control people. Killed by cuting off and burning its head. • Catacano (Crete, Rhodes): Has such shiny white teeth that it has the nickname the happy vampire. Defeated by burning its nails and then boiling its head in vinegar or submerging its body in salted water. • Krvopijac (Bulgaria): Called the Krvoijac in GURPS Blood Types this vampire has only one nostril. Is found by having a virgin rid a black foal through an area. Where the horse refuses to go is the grave. Can be "chained" to the grave via wildflowers. • Lobishumen (Brazil): Spelled Lobishomen in GURPS Blood Types this vampire is "small, stumpy, hunch-backed monkey with a yellow face, bloodless lips, black teeth, bushy beard, and plush-covered feet". Defeated by getting it drunk, crucifying it to a tree, and then stabbing it with a stake through the heart. • Mulo (Serbia): wears white clothes and can change into sheep or horses. Similar to the Ghul but unlike them can only destroyed by a holy man. Unknown if this is related to the Mullo (Gypsy) in GURPS Blood Types. • Volkodlak* (Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia): Term originally meant werewolf. Has congested face and blood-red skin. Supposedly can only be defeated by 'cutting off its toes and thumbs, drive a spike into its neck, pierce its navel with a stake (not its heart), then burn it, starting the fire with holy candles'. Bibliography GURPS Blood Types uses a host of sources but here are the more scholarly ones: * Barber, Paul (1988) Vampires, Burial and Death (Yale University Press) * Bunson, Matthew (1993) The Vampire Encyclopedia (Crown Publications) * Frayling, Christopher (1991) Vampyres: Lord Byron to Count Dracula (Faber and Faber, Ltd) * Haining, Peter (1977) The Dracula Scrapbook (Bramhall House) * McNally, Raymond T. and Florescu, Radu (1972) In Search of Dracula (N.Y. Graphic Society) * Melton, J. Gordon (1994) The Vampire Book (Visible Ink Press) * Summers, Montague (1928) The Vampire, His Kith and Kin (Routledge and Keegan Paul) * Summers, Montague (1929) The Vampire in Europe (Routledge and Keegan Paul) * Twitchell, James B, (1975) The Living Dead: The Vampire in Romantic Literature (Duke University Press) * Wolf, Leonard (ed.) (1995) The Essential Dracula (Plume) Additional Material * Bane, Theresa (2010) [http://vampmyth.com/ Encyclopedia of Vampire Mythology] McFarland References